In his guest column, Hoffman accused Kerry of "gross exaggerations, distortions of fact, and outright lies." Yet in May, Hoffman "acknowledged he had no first-hand knowledge to discredit Kerry's claims to valor and said that although Kerry was under his command, he really didn't know Kerry much personally," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelreported.

As Media Matters for America has previously documented, Hoffman has since changed his story: Despite initially admitting that he "really didn't know Kerry much" in Vietnam, Hoffman has since claimed that he "knew him well."